Pemberton’s Multifaith Messiah, scribe and The Pembertonian columnist Babar Javed quotes Margaret Vasser in one of his recent baubles of wisdom.

“There are two kinds of time. Road time is when we are standing at the roadside, with events approaching and then passing us by; river time is when we are in the flow of events, are in fact an event, and not just an innocent bystander; both types of time are needed to see the reality of existence; a parallel to the Vedic idea of there being two birds in our soul: one that feeds on fruits – the actor, and one that watches it – the observer; together creating action and awareness.”

Javed was one of of 23 Pemberton writers to take part in Strange Fruit: A Community Storytelling Harvest last winter, and has continued capturing polaroid-quick portraits of local characters. But it’s his ‘two birds in our soul’ snapshot that is the best moment-capture for me – a quick grab of what it’s like to be a writer, to stand simultaneously by the roadside and in the river, madly taking notes.